POOLE Pirates secured top spot in the SGB Cab Direct Championship with a victory over Edinburgh Monarchs.

The four point victory in the Scottish capital, coupled with Oxford’s defeat at Scunthorpe, meant Pirates cannot be caught at the summit of the league.

The side will now be meeting the eventual fourth place finisher in the playoffs and will have a choice of legs in the semi-final.

Poole needed to appoint a stand-in manager as Danny Ford was delayed in traffic, with Ford arriving just as the riders were headed to the start for heat one.

Pirates made a strong start, with Richard Lawson winning the tied first heat, before Tobias Thomsen took heat two as the visitors took it 5-1.

Back-to-back 4-2 wins for Pirates in heats three and four took them to a strong early lead of 16-8, before another Lawson win in a 3-3 heat in heat five and a 4-2 home win narrowed the gap to 21-15 in Pirates’ favour.

But a 5-1 win in heat seven extended the lead again, with Poole having a 33-27 lead after heat 10.

The home side rallied and narrowed the deficit to just two points with three heats to go, but another crucial Lawson win in heat 13 gave the visitors some breathing space.

A 3-3 tie in heat 14, thanks to a Zach Cook win, meant Poole could not be overtaken, and despite a 4-2 win for the hosts in the final heat, Poole took the meeting 47-43.

This also meant an aggregate win of 97-83 for Pirates.

There were strong contributions from Lawson (11), Tom Brennan (12+1), along with strength throughout the lineup, with Thomsen scoring 5 and guest Paul Starke scoring 6+2.

Starke said: “It was good to put the Poole race jacket back on again.

“I got the call to see if I would ride for Poole tonight, I was coming up this way anyway so had no doubt about doing it.

“It was good to score some points for Poole and help get the win that I know the team was really determined to achieve."

Promoter Ford said on a hectic day: “A ten-hour journey up and just getting here on time and then to see the lads get the job done, I am a lot happier now.

“This is a really tough place to come and we really didn't want to leave having to come to Armadale with the question mark over top spot but that is what happened and the boys delivered.

“It was a good performance, the meeting was kind of in our control throughout.

“We had a few little slip ups but I felt we always had control of the meeting for the most part so I am really encouraged.

“Starkey stepped in as a great guest tonight as well, and probably proved to be a match winner again.

“Richard and Tom have been great all year, as too has Ben. Our heat leader trio having been riding at such a high level it's been a bit scary.

“Obviously, we had one off-night between them this year which was our slip-up against Oxford but for the most part they have been absolutely sublime.”

Pirates now travel to Workington for the second leg of their BSN Series semi-final, aiming to defend their lead and secure their place in the final.

EDINBURGH: 43: Josh Pickering: 14+1 (1',3,3,3,1,3); Michele Castagna: 9 (2,2,2,2,1); Drew Kemp: 7 (2,1,3,1); Troy Batchelor: 6 (2,1,3,0); Lasse Fredriksen: 4+3 (0,1',1',2'); Connor Coles: 2 (1,0,1,TS); Max James 1+1 (0,0,F,1').

POOLE: 47: Tom Brennan: 12+1 (3,2,3,2',2); Richard Lawson: 11 (3,3,2,3,R); Ben Cook: 8 (3,3,2,N2); Paul Starke: 6+2 (2',1,2,1',R,RS); Zach Cook: 5+1 (XE,2',0,3); Tobias Thomsen: 5 (3,1,0,0,1,FD); Sam Hagon 0 (0,0,0,RS).